


We know the way

by PrincessAmericaChavez



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Moana (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 20:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8814340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/pseuds/PrincessAmericaChavez
Summary: Turns out it's not easy for a demigod to be friends with a mortal.





	

Maui doesn’t plan to leave for too long, it just happens accidentally, at least the first time. He’s a demigod, after all, used to thousands of years to pass him by in a blink since the dawn of time. So when he spots a group of familiar ships at sea and flies down to meet them he’s not expecting the young woman that greets him with a warm smile. 

“Hey, are you taller?” He jokes as she hugs him, ruffling her hair. She is, but just a little. It’s just weird that she’s changed when he hasn’t at all. She’s eighteen years old and has grown up to be a capable young chief. 

“I’m getting my very own tattoo soon,” she informs him later that day, as him and mini Maui listen intently. 

“Oh yeah? Is it going to be about a great adventure?” He asks, showing off his own collection proudly. 

“No, it’s...” Moana trails off quietly, eyes lost on the horizon as the sun sets. “My grandma had a stingray on her back. She always said she’d come back as one after she died.”

“Are you going to get a stingray?” He arches an eyebrow. She shakes her head. “A fish? A whale?”

“No,” Moana chuckles, “it’s gonna be a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”

She smiles contently, back at the horizon, dipping her feet on the sea that is so quiet and still it nearly works as a mirror. Maui watches her from the corner of his eye and something in his stomach just _drops._ She will never be this young again. Soon, sooner than he’d like to think about, she’ll be gone.

“Well, I would love to see your tattoo, but I have to go,” he announces abruptly, standing up. She follows, looking confused. As expected, she starts to protest the shortness of his visit, but before she can he waves a quick goodbye and flies off far away where the world feels eternal and little girls never grow up and die. 

* * *

 Again, he doesn't plan to be gone so long, but he's angry, and he's upset, and according to mini Maui he's moping. And yes, a demigod moping can take a very long time, and the ocean and sky are both wide and full of adventures that keep his mind distracted. 

It's all really an accident. He's shifted, swimming in shark form, when he spots a group of boats being attacked by kakamora. A single boat seems to have made it out. He goes for it first, to get some information on what's going on there without revealing his presence. He flies off the water, transforms midair and lands on the boat, rocking it. He hears a small squeak of surprise and smiles proudly. 

"Don't be afraid! I'm here to help! I'm-"

"Maui!" The woman on the boat smiles. "I'm so glad you're here! We've gotta get my people out of there."

His brain pauses completely. Even mini Maui stands completely still for a second, before jumping up and down with excitement. Real sized Maui's brain, on the other hand, still doesn't get it. He looks at the woman in front of him, dressed in red, curly long hair, big brown eyes. It can't be. There's a spiral on her sail. 

"Moana?" 

 _No, no._ Moana is a  _child_ and this girl in front of him is practically a woman. Mid twenties, at least. Taller, stronger.

"Yes," she says, eyebrow raised impatiently. At least that's a gesture he knows well. "Are you gonna help me?"

"Oh, right sure. I can-"

"We're going in! Be ready!" She informs him, grabbing the ropes and leaning her body weight to lift half the raft. He struggles to keep his balance for a second. She's fast. She's better at this than he remembers and all he can do is catch up to speed with her and follow her lead. He blocks an harpoon directed to her head as they go into the blockade and chases away the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't.

Once inside, she sticks with her people, defending them. He sticks to punching kakamora's in their own boats and opening a way so that Moana and her people can make it out. She leads them, opening the way with fire in her eyes. Her people, he knows, are not violent, or warriors, but they follow her example and make it out.

As he lands on her ship, the first thing he notices is blood trailing down her arm, a cut on her shoulder. He'd forgotten how _red_ blood is. He's never seen her bleed before. He hasn't bled in centuries himself. There's a boy about her own age standing by her side, talking quietly. It doesn't really take centuries of experience to know what  _that_ is about. He seems like a strong boy too. Maui mentally gives him extra points for not backing away when he stalks towards her grimly.

"Moana, what where you thinking going in there like that?" He demands to know, grabbing her arms to look at the cut.

"I was rescuing my people," she replies, giving him an annoyed look.

"You should have let me do it," he insists, because Moana is human, and _mortal,_ and if he hadn't been here today that would have been it. 

"I am Chief Moana of Motunui," she replied, pulling her arm out of his grasp, "I protect my own people."

She's so goddamn stubborn. Maui would throw her off the boat if he didn't already know how that ends. Instead, he clenches his fists and mutters, "fine." If she's a grown woman and he doesn't need him —even though he  _totally_ just saved her life back there— then he shouldn't stick around. 

He flies off, ignores when she calls his name. If she's going to get herself killed, he's not going to stick around and see it. 

* * *

 

He does stick around, but mostly because he's sure that as soon as he's gone for too long again that girl's gonna manage to get herself killed. So he stays. Sort of. He becomes a frequent visitor of Moana and her people. He helps with the sails, he keeps them safe, he entertains the tribe's children with stories of his adventures —to the horror of some of the mothers who'd rather their kids didn't hear so much about giant sea monsters. 

He's invited to Moana's wedding. He'll forever deny the fact that he cried at the ceremony. The ocean makes its presence known too by creating quite a water spectacle after the ceremony, and during the party Moana's parents talk to him kindly, like one would a family friend instead of a demigod. Maui becomes just one more of the crowd, he realizes he's been one of them for a while now, even with his comings and goings.  _This is good,_ he thinks,  _I could do this for a long time._ Then, he sees Moana and her husband walking away, along the shore hand in hand, and he realizes part of the meaning of what just happened. He sneaks out of the party soon after. 

After that, it takes him a long time to find them again. Partly, because he's not sure he's ready for that, but also because he expected Moana to at least stay on that particular island for a while. Instead, he finds her out deep into the sea along with three other ships, two years later. After a while of hesitation, and a long debate with his miniature self —who has found an ally in tattoo Moana lately (forever young and free made immortal in his skin)— he finally lands on her ship. 

"Maui!" The happiness in her voice is palpable and familiar, the same he's known for years now. Her eyes sparkle just as they did when she was young. Except, she isn't that young anymore, and every other aspect of her reminds him of it. Like the way her hair is longer, or how her face looks tired, or how her hips look fuller. She hugs him, though her arms can barely go around his torso at all, and he gently pats her back. Before he can speak, though, she starts pulling him over to the back of the ship. "I'm so glad you're  _finally_ here! There's someone I want you to meet! Come on!"

Moana has a son. A small round faced bundle that babbles in her arms. Moana of Motunui is a mother and he's so shaken by that simple fact that he needs to sit down for a second. He does so as discretely as possible, letting his feet hang off the side of the boat. She joins him, child still in her arms. 

"So," he asks awkwardly after a long silence, "what's his name?"

"Kai," she smiles. He chuckles a quiet laugh. Of course a girl named after the ocean would name her son after the sea too. 

"It's a good name," he nods. 

"That's what my mom said."

"I bet your parents are happy."

"Oh, they are, when we visit, but they settled on an island a few months ago. Sea life was getting too hard for them," she says it all in one breath and he can tell she's not used to the idea of not being with them anymore. 

"You're are not planning to stay with them for a while? You know the sea can be dangerous for babies."

"I tried," she says, making a face, and gives no further explanation. He's not really surprised eager Moana couldn't stay away from the ocean too long. "It's been a long time since we last saw you," she changes the subject, glancing at him. He can't quite tell if she's mad about it or not. He's not even sure how long he's been gone. 

"Yeah, sorry, you know, demigod stuff. Had to fight some monsters, create new fun things..." he trails off. He's sure he has been doing a lot of those things lately, but he suddenly can't remember most of them. Not as many that he couldn't have visited sooner. 

"Oh, yeah, gotta do your job to stay the hero of all," she says with a smirk, bumping his shoulder lightly. "Just so you know, though, we already like you a lot without all that."

He doesn't know what to answer. Any words seem either too cheesy or too bland for what he feels right now. He just gives her a thankful look, amazed by how little her eyes have changed after so long. She smiles back, knowingly. 

Someone calls her name and she motions to stand up, handing him the baby before he can argue.

"Hold him for a second?" She says and it's not even a real question. She's too used to giving orders now, he thinks with frustration as he carefully tries to fix his body to fit the baby. He's so small he could fit in one of his hands, or he could crush him by accident if he holds him too tightly, or he could accidentally drop him,  _oh gods._ A thought crosses his mind, and he wonders painfully how could someone take such a tiny being and toss him in the sea without a second thought. His stomach backflips as he gently rocks the baby in his arms. He'd never let that, or anything bad, happen to Moana's boy. 

 _Oh gods,_ he realizes suddenly, as Mini Maui makes funny faces to amuse the baby,  _this time he's staying._

* * *

 

Turns out, staying is not as hard as he expected it to be. He thought he'd have to talk himself out of leaving every day, wishing to be free at sea or in the sky, but turns out life sailing with Moana's people is pretty darn interesting as well. He teaches the younger boys and girls how to sail, retells the stories he used to tell their older siblings again and again. He laughs and eats and lives with them all, wondering if this is what being a part of a family is like. He'll never actually say it out loud. (Kai calls him uncle Maui once and he nearly burst into tears)

Word spreads across the ocean too, about fearless Chief Moana who has the ocean and Maui on her side, who has saved the world already and who is pretty much invincible. She's becoming quite a legend herself, mostly on her own right though he likes to think he's got something to do with it. Messengers arrive every so often from different places, begging for Moana's help or council. She goes to every single call. She solves conflicts like a diplomat and fights monsters like a warrior, and every day Maui is thankful that he stayed to see her live her life and to be by her side in every adventure. 

He almost doesn't notice how her hair starts turning gray. The day Kai gets married catches him by surprise, and then Moana has a little granddaughter that is her living image, she is slowly growing up to be just like the Moana he met —in his opinion— not that long ago. Some days, he may call her Moana by mistake. Others, he thinks he's dreaming of their very first adventure. 

The day Moana's husband dies his heart breaks like it hasn't in a very long time. Her pain, however, is overwhelming, all over her face, palpable in her voice like a gapping wound as she cries. He hates seeing her like that, he wants to help but he's not good at it. What's worse, he's petrified, terrified by the loss she's going through because he's not ready to face it himself. He's been on his own for centuries. He can't remember the last time he  _lost_ someone. He can't face it. 

They burry her husband in the same island where Kai's family and others have chosen to settle for a while. In a few months, the rest of them will sail back into the sea to search a new island. Maui thinks Moana will chose to stay here with them, which is why he's surprised to find her on the shore in the middle of the night, struggling to push a boat out into the sea. Her body is not as strong as it used to be, but from afar he can see how the ocean helps her, pulls the canoe in and then gently helps Moana get on it. 

"So what now?" He asks quietly, hopping on after her. She doesn't seem surprised by his presence. 

"I thought it was time for a new adventure," she smiles tiredly. 

It shouldn't surprise him. She's never been good at staying in the same place for too long. Still, at her very mortal human age, he wishes she would stop. "Moana, maybe you should take a break. I don't think we have a lot of adventures left," he says, and he hopes she will listen because he'd hate to resort to throwing her off the boat once again. 

"We have tons of adventures left," she retorts, "we still have to catch that horizon."

"Moana, you are mortal, you can't keep..."

"When I die," she says and he almost flinches, "I will go as far as I can, see the rest of the world. We're gonna find what there is beyond the line where the sea touches the sky."

"Moana..." he sighs. 

She doesn't seem sad, despite the fact that Maui would rather face a thousand lava monsters instead of listening to this, of picturing a life on his own all over again. She stands there, tall and proud, holding to the mast, her white hair shining in the moonlight, every year and hardship and knowledge traceable in her face. She looks as eternal as the tattoo on his chest. He wishes she was. 

Silently, she pulls her heavy curtain of hair over one of her shoulders, revealing an intricate tattoo that spreads across her shoulder blades and clearly forms a large eagle. Maui blinks. He's never seen that tattoo before. He's sure he has to have seen it, at least once, at least by accident, but he can't remember it. 

"Is that..."

"How I'm coming back," she says, sending him a smirk over her shoulder. "We are gonna go flying to the edge of the world." 

She doesn't ask if he will join her. She already knows he will. If he gets to still have her in his life, by her side up high in the skies, oh that is a sweet idea. A victory cry escapes his lips without thinking, waving his hook victorious. Moana laughs and the sound is almost childish, just like when they met. 

"Alright!" He grins, all excitement back in his voice. He feels reborn, like not a day has passed since their very first sail together. He's a demigod, after all, it hasn't really been that long. "But first we have another adventure on our hands! Where to, Chief Moana of Motunui?"

"Oh, I know the way," she smiles back, grabbing the ropes. They have a lot of adventures ahead. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, you can blame [ this post ](http://youkaiyume.tumblr.com/post/154016267158/headcanon-everyone-expected-moanas-chosen-tattoo) for giving me feels and unwittingly prompting this fic.
> 
> As usual comments are very appreciated. Especially since it's the first time I write this characters! :) 


End file.
